Chapter 933

As he expected.

"About five hundred people, on the surface they are criminals and mercenaries from the western mountains of the Jin Tao Kingdom, but in reality, they are all regular troops, and they are also helping Fu Shanlie train water bandits in Longchuan." The Jin Tao Kingdom is still wary of Panlongcheng and dare not openly send regular troops, so they can only transport support here in the name of mercenaries.

"The food and expenses for nearly three thousand people is not a small amount. The Longchuan villagers have already turned to us, so who is supporting Fu Shanlie's troops?"

The reason why Panlongcheng and the Great Wind Army are powerful is that the most basic condition is a sufficient supply of food. The area of Longchuan is about half that of the Chapa Plateau, but the water and soil are not as rich as it, and there are a large number of wetlands and uncultivated wasteland.

The composition of the Xiji puppet army is complex, most of them are outsiders, and the local water bandits of Longchuan account for less than 30%, and now it is difficult to rob merchants, so where do their supplies come from? As the commander of a city, few people know the importance of military food better than He Lingchuan.

While recruiting the Longchuan water bandits, the favorability of the villages in Longchuan towards Yuheng City is also increasing, at least not as hostile as before. The difficulty for Fu Shanlie's army to obtain food from Longchuan is also increasing.

Hu Min immediately said: "Some are taken from villages, some are purchased from the Baishawan Free Port, and some are discovered by the skinny one: Jin Tao is also secretly transporting food to it."

The upper reaches of the Longchuan water are in the Jin Tao Kingdom.

"However, their forced purchase of food from Longchuan villages has already sparked local dissatisfaction."

This number of Xiji puppet troops huddled in Longchuan, neither local people nor engaged in production, will inevitably cause a blood-sucking and exploitative effect on the local area.

He Lingchuan nodded: "The Imperial Flowing Nectar has descended, how are they responding?"

The Imperial Flowing Nectar amplifies human greed, which happens to serve as a litmus test for the quality of the Xiji puppet army.

At least on the first night of the Imperial Flowing Nectar in the past, the performance of Yuheng City made He Lingchuan and Wen Daolun quite satisfied—after these few months of high-intensity continuous grinding, the newly formed Yuheng Army has been reborn. Both its mental outlook and organizational discipline are much stronger than before.

"Only know that there are casualties, the number is unknown." Hu Min said, "After you recruited the Qianjin Stronghold, the Xiji puppet army had multiple bloody battles with the bandit gangs, so they quickly turned hostile to the Longchuan people. Fu Shanlie then surrounded the area around the stronghold with demon vines, leaving only two passages. That demon vine wall is airtight and does not allow people to get close. In this way, they are isolated from the outside, and intelligence is difficult to get in and out."

"Send bird monsters for aerial reconnaissance?"

Hu Min shook his head: "They also sent raptors to hover in the sky, and outside bird monsters are not easy to get close."

"In this way, Fu Shanlie has changed his plan from offense to defense, preparing to occupy Longchuan for a long time." He Lingchuan walked to the sand table: "After annexing several bandit gangs, Fu Shanlie's territory expanded to the eastern part of Longchuan, occupying the passage between the Longchuan wetlands and the outside world, making it more convenient to communicate with the Jin Tao Kingdom."

If this malignant tumor is not removed, Jin Tao's spies and even troops can enter from Longchuan and run rampant in the old land of Xiji.

"Strange, why hasn't he withdrawn yet?" He Lingchuan muttered, "If he can't kill me, Yuheng City's occupation of the entire Longchuan territory is just around the corner, and he can't stir up any trouble there. This is the general trend, and his staying in Longchuan is meaningless."

Honestly speaking, Fu Shanlie was doing well in Longchuan, integrating a group of mobs and repeatedly repelling Yuheng City's attacks.

But he suffered a big loss in position.

He is a "bandit" in Longchuan, no matter how well he does, at most he is a big bandit leader. The water bandits follow him, and they still have to bleed and sweat and fight against government soldiers to make money.

He Lingchuan is an "official" and has the big move of "recruitment" in his hands, which can disintegrate the will of the water bandits without bloodshed. The water bandits turn into road managers and collect money while sitting still, so who would still want to follow Fu Shanlie?

He Lingchuan transformed this natural gap in power into his own huge advantage.

And before this, neither Wen Daolun, Commander Xiao, nor Panlongcheng realized this.

Fu Shanlie failed to ambush He Lingchuan, so he should know that the trend is irreversible. This is a failure at the strategic level, why still hold on to Longchuan? The cost of staying behind will become greater and greater, and stopping losses in time is the wise move.

Unless, he has other considerations.

Hu Min added: "Also, Mr. Zhang, whom you invited from Panlongcheng, entered Longchuan the day before yesterday."

He Lingchuan pressed his neck, making two cracking sounds: "The reconnaissance on both land and air routes has been cut off, fortunately Longchuan has a lot of water, so it should be fine for us to conduct reconnaissance by water, right?"

The Xiji puppet army's stronghold was built on the water. It is said that Fu Shanlie's sleeping mat was less than three zhang away from the water.

"Mr. Zhang sent back news for the first time that the puppet army seemed to have quarreled because of the uneven distribution of the Imperial Flowing Nectar, and the water bandits were dissatisfied."

The water bandits have always emphasized fairness and interests, while the army is a vertical management from top to bottom, forcing people to obey. The Longchuan water bandits need an adaptation period to transform into military combat power.

He Lingchuan does not intend to leave them enough time.

"When the Imperial Flowing Nectar descended for the first time, it was actually a good opportunity, it's a pity to miss it. The second Imperial Flowing Nectar should come in these two days." He pondered, "Where has Fu Shanlie been these past few days?"

"The night before last, he was sitting by the water enclosure in the stronghold drinking, several pots in a row, Mr. Zhang saw it all; he also seemed to receive a letter, and after reading it, he was very angry and cursing."

"What was he cursing?"

"His eyes and ears are sharp, Mr. Zhang didn't dare to get close, only heard a few words, something about intrigue, something about dragging down the front line."

Who is Fu Shanlie angry with, is the letter from Beijia? He Lingchuan said "Hmm": "Tell Mr. Zhang to keep a close eye on Fu Shanlie. Also, keep an eye on the number of ships in the Xiji puppet army's water stronghold."

Ships are essential travel tools in Longchuan, especially after the Xiji puppet army cut off the land route, they mainly rely on ships to enter and exit.

"Yes."

"Have our troops gone out?"

"The third batch is already on the way."

"Good, very good." He Lingchuan inserted a small flag into Longchuan in the sand table, "It's time to make an end of it."

There was no military business tonight, so He Lingchuan walked home.

Standing on the hillside, one could see half of the city brightly lit, even more prosperous than when he first arrived in Yuheng City.

Stars and lights. Behind every lamp, there is a family's small happiness.

Under the hard work of him and Wen Daolun, Yuheng City is thriving every day.

However, the Heavenly Gods and Beijia are always casting malicious glances here. If the scourge of the Longchuan bandit army is not eradicated as soon as possible, how much longer can Yuheng City have good days?

Just halfway up the mountain road, a flapping sound came from the night sky.

He Lingchuan looked up and saw two birds colliding above, flapping and fighting, feathers flying, and screams endless.

Before long, the winner was decided.

The two birds were entangled together and both fell to the ground. The red falcon was on top, fiercely pressing a thrush with its claws, and both its claws and beak were bloody.

But it also had red above the corner of its own eye, blinking constantly.

This thrush was too big, its size almost equal to it.

It spoke one step ahead of He Lingchuan, its voice panting: "You are being followed. It has been watching you for the past two days, from the City Guard Station to your home, wherever you go, it follows."

"Oh? Well done." No wonder he felt like he was being watched for the past two days, vaguely.

Tracking from monsters is the most covert. Fortunately, he sent the red falcon to patrol.

He Lingchuan stroked the red falcon's head, fed it an elixir, and then looked down and asked the thrush, "Who sent you?"

"Longchuan!" The thrush was covered in wounds, too painful to argue, "The leader of the Xiji army!"

"Besides watching me, what else did he send you to do?"

"Ask me to check the south, south camp of Yuheng City by the way."

He Lingchuan nodded: "How many eyes did he send to Yuheng City? Like you?"

Is it such a coincidence? He sent aerial eyes to watch Fu Shanlie, and the other party also sent birds to watch him.

Mutual surveillance.

"I have also seen two others, a blackbird, and a silk-light starling."

Both are small birds common in the city, not easy to be detected.

"Where has Fu Shanlie been operating recently?"

"I don't know!"

He Lingchuan frowned: "When and where was the last time you reported to him?"

"Yesterday, in Longchuan!" The thrush said, "I reported to his subordinates."

"You didn't see him with your own eyes?"

"No."

He Lingchuan said "Hmm" and said to the red falcon: "Asked, you handle it."

The thrush screamed with noise, all "spare my life."

But the red falcon insisted on using it as dinner.

He Lingchuan didn't care either. When Yuheng City sent people to Longchuan, it announced to the entire water area that monsters assisting the Xiji puppet army would be treated as enemies of Yuheng City.

These monsters heard it but didn't take it seriously, so don't blame him.

There was no sound from the back soon.

After returning home, He Lingchuan first took a God-Slaying Pill and went to the back mountain to practice his saber.

He Lingchuan had already taken two God-Slaying Pills refined by A Luo with the Imperial Flowing Nectar. Of course, A Luo was not as reckless as he was by the Three Hearts Lake, but refined the spiritual nectar into three pills, telling him to take only one every six hours.

The one he swallowed now was the last one.

He Lingchuan had already discovered that the best way for him to refine spiritual nectar and increase his cultivation in the Panlong world was not to sit in meditation, but to polish his body and practice martial arts.

The two worlds of reality and illusion are, after all, somewhat different.

The mountains and fields were quiet, and there was no one in the forest. He gradually practiced to the point of forgetting himself, and a faint white energy appeared around the Floating Life Saber at some point.

The saber aura had formed.

His essence, energy, and spirit were all at their peak, and suddenly a wave slash was slashed out.

The saber was silent, but the brilliance was like water, and the forest five zhang away suddenly crashed, as if a hurricane had passed.

Two breaths later, branches and leaves fell.

A few more breaths, and more than twenty trees as thick as a bowl fell.

He Lingchuan's slash was a horizontal slash, and the plants in the fan-shaped area five zhang ahead, from shrubs to trees, were all beheaded!

Neat and tidy, as if measured with a ruler.

This style came from the wave slash, which had never been taught by Panlongcheng, but was self-realized by He Lingchuan, natural and perfect.

Just as he was about to raise his saber again, his heart was moved, and his blood surged to his head.

He Lingchuan's movements suddenly stopped, and he secretly said that it finally came.

(End of chapter)